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Missing deer mount located after tip

Jul 9, 2013 - By Eric Blom, Staff Writer

Riverton police think they have solved a 3-year-old mystery of a stolen mule deer mount with the help of a tipster. The Colorado man accused of the theft was bound over to District Court on July 3 to face a felony larceny count.

Travis Dale Higman, 22, was arrested in Weld County, Colorado, after sheriff's deputies found the deer mount in his home May 13, according to an affidavit entered by Riverton Police Department officer Todd Baxter.

Felony larceny carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Around Sept. 20, 2010, Bar 10 owner Jason Hawk told the Riverton Police Department that a record buck mule deer head and antlers had been stolen from his business, Baxter said. Hawk told police the trophy's owner, Tim Coulson, had lent it to Hawk, and the mount had hung in Bar 10 for about five weeks.

Hawk noticed the deer head missing sometime around Sept. 23, 2010, and an employee told him it had not been on the wall for a week, he told police. Coulson told the bar owner he had not removed it.

Coulson said the mount was worth about $5,000.

Hawk told police he thought someone had stolen the head during college rodeo weekend, Sept. 18-19, 2010. Baxter said he requested a picture and description of the mount be placed on the Wyoming Outdoor Council website to help locate it.

Tipster

On May 13, Baxter was told to contact Coulson because the man had new information regarding his trophy.

Baxter later contacted deputy Warren Sitzman of the Weld County Sheriff's Office for assistance. Sitzman and other deputies went to Higman's home May 13 and found a deer mount with a tag matching that of the stolen trophy.

The Weld County Sheriff's Office arrested Higman on a flight June 2 to avoid a prosecution charge, according to the office's website.

This story has been modified from its original version to protect the identity of the tipster.